WHO IS THIS MEHDI BIWAS? BENGALURU: A genius clouded and confused by fanaticism. Thats how officers who arrested and interrogated Mehdi Biswas described him. A man who carefully kept his real and virtual lives apart. He didnt want to be a foot soldier but wanted to be in the top layer, as a strategist. He was drawn to religion since his college days and soon became deep-rooted in extremist ideas. He spent most of his time reading, mostly about the Levantine region comprising countries like Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Turkey. Even though he hadnt visited any of these countries, he had in-depth knowledge of this area, said Hemanth Nimbalkar, joint commissioner of police, (crime). He believed in the idea of an Islamic state and when asked why he didnt strive for it in India, he said India had no real Muslims capable of jihad. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a researcher of jihadi groups and blogger, who had written about Mehdi called him a cheerleader for Isis. One could term him a recruiter in the sense that his relentless tweeting contributed to a wider atmosphere of online narrative furtherance for Isis that might provide some motivation for someone to join it, he said in an email conversation. He was highly influential in the Isis support network because of his ability to translate from Arabic to English. He added that in the fight against Isis, perhaps government agencies found him useful as an inadvertent honeypot to track the accounts of would-be recruits reaching out to him via Twitter or email asking how to join Isis. Offline, he led a quiet life. His landlord Srinivasaiah reveals about Mehdis other life. He met me in 2012 and said hed got a job in the city. He wanted a one-room apartment. A few months ago, he moved from the second floor to the first, he said. Police Commissioner MN Reddy DGP and IGP Pachau, Hemanth Nimbalkar Joint Commissioner Crime and DCP Crime Abhishek Goyal addressing media at Commissioner office in Bangalore on Saturday, regarding arrest of the Mehdi Masroor Biswas (TOI Photo) Mehdi hardly spoke to neighbours and his parents visited him a couple of times over two years. Mehdi had two or three friends but spent time alone at home. He didnt own any vehicle, preferred walking to office and often ate at eatery nearby. On his few forays outside, hed buy chicken dishes from the neighbourhood hotelier. A quiet life which effectively concealed a different online persona.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 17:17:51 +0000
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